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Vampire
Vampirism refers to the condition of being a vampire. It is described by many as a disease. A Vampire is an undead monster who subsists by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of humans, or, sometimes, any living creatures. There are, however, exceptions for this definition. Introduction Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures, and may go back to "prehistoric times", the term vampire was not popularized until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such as vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism. While even folkloric vampires of the Balkans and Eastern Europe had a wide range of appearance ranging from nearly human to bloated rotting corpses, it was interpretation of the vampire by the Christian Church and the success of vampire literature, namely John Polidori's 1819 novella The Vampyre that established the archetype of charismatic and sophisticated vampire; it is arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century, inspiring such works as Varney the Vampire and eventually Dracula. The Vampyre was itself based on Lord Byron's unfinished story "Fragment of a Novel", also known as "The Burial: A Fragment", published in 1819. However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula that is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and which provided the basis of modern vampire fiction. Dracula drew on earlier mythologies of werewolves and similar legendary demons and "was to voice the anxieties of an age", and the "fears of late Victorian patriarchy". The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, video games, and television shows. The vampire is such a dominant figure in the horror genre that literary historian Susan Sellers places the current vampire myth in the "comparative safety of nightmare fantasy". Etymology The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance of the word vampire in English from 1734, in a travelogue titled Travels of Three English Gentlemen published in the Harleian Miscellany in 1745. Vampires had already been discussed in French and German literature. After Austria gained control of northern Serbia and Oltenia with the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, officials noted the local practice of exhuming bodies and "killing vampires". These reports, prepared between 1725 and 1732, received widespread publicity. The English term was derived (possibly via French vampyre) from the German Vampir, in turn derived in the early 18th century from the Serbian вампир/vampir, when Arnold Paole, a purported vampire in Serbia was described during the time Serbia was incorporated into the Austrian Empire. The Serbian form has parallels in virtually all Slavic languages: Bulgarian and Macedonian вампир (vampir), Croatian vampir, Czech and Slovak upír, Polish wąpierz, and (perhaps East Slavic-influenced) upiór, Ukrainian упир (upyr), Russian упырь (upyr'), Belarusian упыр (upyr), from Old East Slavic упирь (upir'). (Note that many of these languages have also borrowed forms such as "vampir/wampir" subsequently from the West; these are distinct from the original local words for the creature.) The exact etymology is unclear. Among the proposed proto-Slavic forms are *ǫpyrь and *ǫpirь. Another, less widespread theory, is that the Slavic languages have borrowed the word from a Turkic term for "witch" (e.g., Tatar ubyr). Czech linguist Václav Machek proposes Slovak verb "vrepiť sa" (stick to, thrust into), or its hypothetical anagram "vperiť sa" (in Czech, archaic verb "vpeřit" means "to thrust violently") as an etymological background, and thus translates "upír" as "someone who thrusts, bites". An early use of the Old Russian word is in the anti-pagan treatise "Word of Saint Grigoriy", dated variously to the 11th–13th centuries, where pagan worship of upyri is reported. "Turning" There are quite a few ways of turning ordinary humans into vampires, showed in several legends and works of fiction, listed below: The blood exchange refers to a mutual exchange of blood between the vampire and the human, creating a bond between the two. The human then turns into a vampire servant for his or her turner. The vampire bite refers to the main way of feeding and turning of most vampires. When the vampire bites a human, the human is turned into a vampire servant of the turner, who is then known as a "vampire master". In Hellsing, when a vampire bites a virgin human of the opposite gender, they are turned into vampires, while "deflowered" humans (and those of the same gender as the vampire) are turned into mindless ghouls (although artificial vampires turn anyone they bite into ghouls). In Vampire Knight, "Level D" vampires can escape the fate of becoming "Level E"s by drinking their master's blood. In Hellsing, artificial vampires can be created though an unknown surgical method (manga and OVA), as well as the usage of FREAK chips (anime only). Characteristics from Final Fantasy VII is a human with several vampire characteristics.]] The image of the classical vampire is usually that of a nobleman or traveler, who wears old-school clothes (showing how old they are) and tries to avoid human contact, although more contemporary depictions show them wearing normal clothes and trying to fit in the human society. Sleeping in coffins (sometimes for long periods of times) is also a common behavior among vampires, although some (like those of the Twilight Series) do not sleep. Elongated fangs and red or yellow iris (even if only at times) are among the most obvious indication, as is the thirst for human blood (particularly virgins'). When vampires die, they usually turn to ashes, wither away instantly or decompose slower than humans. In Daybreak, vampires explode upon death. Powers & Abilities The powers of vampires generally include immortality, high regeneration & healing factor, resistance to pain, superhuman senses, superhuman speed, superhuman strength, charming hypnosis, mind & memory manipulation and others. In the Twilight series, "newborn vampires" (a term for vampires that have been transformed for less than one year) are several times stronger and thirstier than older ones. While lacking the higher-level powers of the "master", turned vampires still possess superhuman strength and a psychic connection with their master. Upon the full consumption of a human's blood, the restrictions imposed upon the fledgling vanish and stronger abilities are unlocked, completing the transition to "true undead" status. In Hellsing, vampires can absorb the memories and abilities of their victims by completely drinking their blood. This process turns the victim into a familiar, that may speak directly to its master's mind and even be summoned to fight by their side. Alucard for example, possesses countless familiars. The number of familiars also seems to have a role on "how" immortal a vampire can be. Still in Hellsing, "A-Class" vampires can transform their bodies at will and even dissolve into bats for locomotion. Some vampires (such as Alucard from Hellsing) are intangible, being able to pass through walls and other objects. According to some sources (mainly Interview With the Vampire) vampires can also fly. Many vampires possess unique abilities, such as foresight, telepathy, telekinesis, elemental manipulation, illusion generation and others. Weaknesses A stake to the heart is a known way of killing most vampires, as well as decapitation and fire. Holy symbols, materials and relics are often treated as highly dangerous. Silver, particularly, is lethal to most of them. Blessed silver is even worse and may inflict extensive damage depending upon the blessings of the material. Stabbing the hearth is one known way of killing vampires. Garlic, is generally able to repel vampires, as well as holy water. Vampires also have an inability to cross large bodies of water without means of external locomotion. In The Vampire Diaries, wood (whether in form of a bullet or a stake) can paralyze a vampire. Drowning is also a classical, yet rare way to kill vampires. Exposure to sunlight can generally either kill vampires (by turning them to ashes) or harm them (by burning them). Some sources say that the older the vampire, more resistant to sunlight it will be, while other say the exact opposite, that the older they get, the easier it is for them to die upon seeing the sun. In some works, vampires are either not affected by sunlight or simply have their abilities limited. In the Twilight Series, vampires simply shine when exposed to the sun, and in The Vampire Diaries, there are witchcraft-imbued items that can protect vampires from the sun. In Blade, the dhampir Eric Brooks uses strong lights to mimic the sun and destroy vampires. Classically, vampires may only drink the blood of the living, and if they drink that of a dead human, it will act as a dungerous poison. This concept, however, has been dropped on most of the recent vampire works, with the remarkable exception of Interview With the Vampire and a few others. In the movie Daybreakers, vampires are poisoned if they drink their own blood, but have no problem consuming that of dead people, as long as its well conserved. According to some sources, such as Twilight, vampires can survive on non-human blood, but may have their abilities limited. In Interview With the Vampire, Lestat de Lioncourt's appearance is heavily changed when he starts drinking the blood of reptiles. If a vampire fails to drink blood, their body will weaken until they either start an hibernation (until they drink again) or (in some sources, such as Interview With the Vampire) die of starvation. In Vampire Knight, there are food pills that eliminate the need of blood on the diet of vampires, although some "Level D"s are allergic to them. In Hellsing, vampires that don't drink blood need to sleep on a coffin containing their homeland's soil. In the Twilight series, there are few ways of killing vampires, but they will die if dismembered and have its remains burned before it can reconstruct itself. Classically, vampires cannot enter a house or location without a formal invitation. In The Vampire Diaries, vampires that are bitten by werewolves die of infection, as there's no known cure for their poison. In the same series, vervain is a powerful protective charm against vampire hypnosis, and its ingestion may knock the undeads unconscious for extended periods. Yet in the same series, the "original vampires" can only be killed by using a stake of a certain "white oak tree", that was used in the spell that rendered them immortal. They could also be bound using special daggers made by witches with the ashes of said tree. In addition, any vampire descendants an original may have will slowly perish. List of Vampires and Damphir List of Vampiresque Characters Category:Creatures Category:Fictional Creatures Category:Fauna Category:Bloodsuckers Category:Sapient Beings Category:Monsters Category:Undeads Category:Multiple Universes Category:Eurasian Creatures Category:Shapeshifting Creatures Category:Immortal Creatures Category:Conditions